


Equal on All Sides

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-10
Updated: 2014-05-10
Packaged: 2018-01-24 06:32:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1595117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Betty comes to New York, Post-Avengers, in search of Bruce. She finds Tony instead, and then they make a decision.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Equal on All Sides

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kat8cha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kat8cha/gifts).



Betty watches the Battle of New York and doesn’t know what to do. Her rational side tells her to stay put and not put herself in danger. Her irrational (in love) side tells her to go to New York and see what she can find out about how Bruce is doing.

There are four weeks left in the summer term. Betty stays and teaches. She grades quizzes and lab work and gives final exams. An hour after she posts final grades, she gets on a plane to New York City. She spends four hours in a layover in Baltimore because airlines hate her.

Betty Ross is a scientist, first and foremost, and so when she lands at 10:47 P.M. in New York City, she reads the subway map and takes three trains to arrive six blocks west of Stark Tower. She walks the six blocks with a backpack and suitcase, and the one person to eye her as a target backs away when she gives him a hard stare and balls her empty hand into a fist.

She has never been intimidated by the so-called monster Bruce can become, and she won’t be intimidated by some asshole with half-chosen danger in his eyes.

When she arrives at Stark Tower, the front doors are locked. Betty rattles them like the chains on King Kong until a slightly not-human voice asks, “How may I help you?”

“I am Dr. Betty Ross, and I want information on Dr. Bruce Banner,” Betty says.

“I shall open the doors immediately,” the voice replies, and Betty steps back, hears a click, and tries the doors again. They open without a fight, and she walks through the cold, echoing lobby and onto the elevator.

The elevator doors close, and the elevator itself starts upwards without Betty pushing a button. She readjusts her grip on her suitcase and watches the numbers tick off.

When the elevator opens, she sees a living room, and there’s a man with a ridiculous goatee. “You’re Tony Stark,” she says.

“You’re the first woman in a long while who was not impressed by that,” Tony Stark replies.

Betty steps off the elevator, sets her suitcase on the floor, and asks, “Where’s Bruce?” She watches in minor amazement—because she has seen numerous press conferences with Tony Stark and knows how good he is—as Tony Stark deflates.

“I don’t know,” he says, and he pulls a face and reaches out and lifts Betty’s suitcase. “He was here, and then he left. He didn’t leave a note.”

“Of course not,” she replies, and she does not move when Tony Stark starts to walk off with her suitcase.

“I have four spare rooms on this floor,” Tony Stark says. “Boy scout’s honor.”

“Were you ever a boy scout?” Betty asks.

Tony Stark laughs. “Nope.”

“Does the spare room actually exist?”

“All four of them,” Tony Stark assures her.

Betty follows him to another room. It has a queen-sized bed, and the whole room is done up in neutrals. “I believe you that this is a spare room,” she says.

“Good,” Tony Stark says. “The conversation we need to have will go a lot better if we’ve both gotten some sleep.”

“Will you actually sleep?” Betty says.

“Will you?” Tony Stark counters.

“Do you have a lab?” Betty asks.

“I have a garage,” Tony Stark says. “There’s some beakers and notes left over from Bruce being here.”

Betty follows him down to the garage and settles into the corner where Bruce had clearly been before. She reviews his notes and disregards half of them. Bruce has never been great with fourth-generation genetic deviations. Betty restarts the experiments from that stage, and somewhere around seven in the morning, Tony Stark comes into her corner and gives her a look that tells her exactly how the encounter is going to end if she wants it to.

“Are you attached to anyone?” she asks. 

“Only the same person you are,” Tony Stark answers.

“And the famous Pepper Potts?”

“She has better taste than me.”

Betty has the urge to reassure Tony Stark he’s better than he thinks, but she only has the energy to do that for one person, and he’s not here. Instead, she looks Tony Stark in the eyes and asks, “What do you want?”

“I want to have sex with you,” he says, and it’s as much his honesty as his wild expression that makes Betty lift herself onto the counter and open her legs in invitation.

The tabloids are true: Tony Stark eats pussy like a champ. The tabloids are untrue: he does not demand favors in return. He devotes himself to eating Betty out, and when she comes, he presses his forehead against her shoulder and says, “I want to fuck you if you’re okay with that.”

“I’m okay with that,” Betty says, and Tony flicks her clit and drops his pants and digs a condom out of the drawer to Betty’s right. “Do you always keep condoms so close at hand?” she asks.

Tony gives her a look that’s mostly guilt. “For certain situations,” he says.

“Bruce didn’t make me any promises,” she tells him, and when Tony fucks her, she grabs tight and holds on, and after she comes, she massages Tony’s dick with her inner muscles until he grits his teeth and comes too.

She goes to her guest room and falls asleep with little effort. When she wakes up in the-midafternoon, she puts on a t-shirt and jeans and walks to the kitchen. The famous Pepper Potts is there, pouring coffee and flicking through something on her phone.

“Hello,” says the famous Pepper Potts.

“Hello” replies Betty. “You’re Pepper Potts.”

“And you’re Dr. Betty Ross,” Pepper replies. She turns around and pours a cup of coffee. She places it in front of Betty as Betty sits on one of the stools at the counter. “I don’t know how you take it,” Pepper says, “but the sugar is above the stove.”

“Thank you,” Betty says. “I can’t imagine I was high on your list of duties today.”

“For the last three years, you have focused on autism research,” the famous Pepper Potts says. “That’s worth pouring a cup of coffee.”

Betty sips the coffee. It’s very good. “I have an awkward question,” she says.

“Tony and I were together and are now not together,” the famous Pepper Potts replies. 

“Are you still friends? I mean, really friends?”

“I wouldn’t be here pouring coffee if we weren’t,” Pepper says. “What is awkward for other people is pretty normal when dealing with Tony Stark.”

“He and Bruce…” Betty says, looking into her coffee, not knowing how to end the sentence.

“I don’t know,” Pepper answers. “But I wish I could help.”

“Thanks,” Betty says because she believes her. Pepper smiles and waves as she leaves. Betty finishes her coffee, and she’s pouring a second cup when Tony comes into the room, wild-haired and not quite awake. “Good morning,” Betty greets.

“Mrhmrp,” Tony replies. He holds out a hand to Betty, and she takes it without thinking. He’s still sleep-warm, and she curls into it because, god, she has missed this. Tony’s free hand drops to her waist, tucks thumb into the waistband of her jeans, and he rubs it back and forth.

“Yes,” Betty says, and Tony slides his other hand down to her waistband and pulls her towards his bedroom. He has a ridiculously sized bed done up in gold and red, and before Betty can laugh at it, Tony lifts her by the ass and presses her against the wall.

“What did you and Bruce do?” Betty asks.

“We sucked each other off. There were handjobs,” Tony replies.

“Did you enjoy it?” Betty asks.

“Yes.”

“Did Bruce enjoy it?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you think of the Hulk?”

“He saved my life,” Tony says, and Betty grabs him by the ears and yanks him forward and kisses him until he’s panting. 

“Jesus fuck, Dr. Ross,” he says when Betty lets him go. “The things I could do to you.”

“Show me,” she says, and Tony undoes her jeans, gets them down her legs, works her open with his fingers, and then fucks her hard against the wall. After they come, Tony moves them both to the bed, and Betty falls asleep against his chest.

When she wakes up, Tony is still there, but he’s on his phone. “How romantic,” she says.

“I’m not great at post-coital,” Tony says. He kisses her on the top of the head and tilts his phone so she can read it. “And I might be baiting our shared personal interest into coming back to New York.”

_Betty is smarter than you and amazing in bed_ , the text reads.

“Oh my god,” Betty says, dropping her head to his shoulder.

“It gets worse,” Tony replies and shows her the follow-up message:

_I’m about to negotiate the three-way_.

“ _The_ three-way?” Betty asks.

“The three of us,” Tony replies. “In a relationship or something.”

“Or something?” Betty asks. She almost laughs at the ridiculousness of what’s happening, but she holds it back when Tony looks at her like he’s really serious.

“I mean something where you, I, and all parts of Bruce can exist in equal happiness.”

“You barely know me,” Betty says.

“You showed up here to find him,” Tony says. “And you took over his scientific efforts when you saw he wasn’t here. And we both know it’s going to take more than one person to keep him where he’s cared about.”

Betty closes her eyes for a long moment, trying to take in everything Tony is saying. “You love him,” she says.

“Yes,” Tony says. “If you don’t want that, I will reunite you two and walk away.”

“You just said it’ll take more than one person to keep him where he’s cared about.”

“I know it takes more than me,” Tony says. “But you on your own, I think you could do it.”

“I’m just one person.”

“No, you’re one Betty Ross. That’s different.”

She opens her eyes and looks at him and realizes he means it. He turns on his side to look at her, and she trails her hands down his back, then up again. She tangles her fingers in his hair and then reaches down and cups his ass. “What do you want Bruce to do to you?” she asks.

“Make me forget to think,” Tony says. He gasps when Betty presses her middle finger against his asshole. “Yeah,” he breathes out. “Like that.”

“I think you want more than that,” Betty says and presses harder.

“Keep that up, and I might like you more than him,” Tony says.

“I’ve never saved your life,” she replies.

“Good point.”

Betty fucks him with two fingers as she sucks him off, and when Tony begs for more, Betty doesn’t give it to him.

“Please,” Tony says. “Fuck me into next week, Dr. Ross.”

Betty stops sucking him off long enough to say, “Then what would Bruce have to give you?” And then she makes him come.

*

Two days later, Bruce shows up at Stark Tower. There’s green flashing in his eyes as he comes off the elevator. He pushes Tony backwards with enough force to send him stumbling five feet. “What do you think you’re doing?” Bruce yells.

Before Tony can say something stupid, Betty steps forward and asks, “What do you think you’re doing, leaving like that?”

Bruce pauses, the green fading from his eyes. “Betty,” he says.

“Bruce,” she replies. She glances over her shoulder at Tony, who is watching the two of them and holding his tongue. “What do you think you’re doing, showing up here after leaving?”

“Betty--” he says again.

“I love you,” she interrupts. “And I’m not the only one—“

“She’s not!” Tony says.

“And you need to consider what that means,” Betty says without missing a beat.

Bruce looks from Betty to Tony and then back to Betty. “He says he fucked you,” he says.

“Don’t be crude for the shock value,” Betty says while rolling her eyes. 

“You’ve had sex with him,” Bruce says, and his eyes flash green again.

“Yes,” Betty replies. “And so did you, and he wants what happens next to be between the three of us, and I agree with him.”

“Why?” Bruce asks.

“Because you’re smarter than him—“

“Hey!” Tony yelps.

“And I miss you, and he reminds me of who you were before the Gamma Radiation happened, and I think you need that reminder, too.” Betty continues.

“And who was I before the radiation?” Bruce asks.

“Someone who could be happy without guilt.”

Bruce’s whole form pulses green, and Betty reaches out and grips his shoulders. “Do you need to do that?”

Bruce pulses green again and grabs her at the waist. “No,” he says, “but I don’t know if I can stop it.”

“You need a distraction,” Tony says, stepping toward and then around them to kiss at Bruce’s shoulder.

“Come here,” Betty says, pressing forward and kissing Bruce on the mouth.

“It’s not that easy,” Bruce mutters when she pulls away.

“Two scientists beg to differ,” Tony says.

“And I’m a better scientist than him,” Betty adds.

“She makes a good point,” Tony replies.

Bruce laughs, cups Betty’s face, and kisses her. As he does so, Tony goes for his neck with great interest, and Bruce tips his head to allow him access.

“There you go,” Betty says, and she laughs without meaning to when Bruce kisses her again. She laughs on purpose when Tony’s hand touches her hip. She feels wild and ridiculous and exactly where she should be as Bruce’s hand curls over the other one.

**Author's Note:**

> That summary was bad, and I apologize. I wasn't sure how to write, "Sex, feelings, sex, sex, feelings" in a way that did not sound lame.


End file.
